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Diamondback and Endeavor merger continues the trend of bigger, fewer oil companies

Feb 12, 2024
Publicly held Diamondback Energy is buying privately held oil driller Endeavor Energy Resources, creating a company worth $50 billion.
 There were more than $100 billion worth of oil and gas mergers and acquisitions in the Permian Basin in 2023.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Oil-rich Permian Basin attracts buyers with resources

Jan 1, 2024
Big companies have been paying billions to acquire smaller competitors — and their drilling rights.
A mural depicting oil drilling adorns a building in Odessa, Texas. The Permian Basin region has helped the U.S. become the world's top oil producer.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Exxon is shelling out $60B to double its Permian production. Why there?

Oct 12, 2023
The Permian Basin, which runs through West Texas and New Mexico, produces more oil than most countries.
If the Permian Basin were its own country, it would be among the top five oil producers in the world, said Karr Ingham with the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. Above, an oil pumpjack in Odessa, Texas.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Why aren't oil companies drilling on their 9,000 land leases?

Aug 1, 2022
Shortages of labor and materials are making it hard to drill and maintain wells.
Shortages of steel pipe, sand and workers are cutting into potential oil production. Above, drilling rigs sit unused in Odessa, Texas.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Texas regulators want oil companies 'flaring' less gas

Aug 6, 2020
Burning excess natural gas can be less costly than figuring out a way to use it, but the practice spurs climate change and hurts air quality.
A gas flare burns at a Permian Basin plant. A study found that companies in the region  wasted $750 million worth of natural gas in 2018.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Midland, Texas, had fastest growth in pay last year

Nov 20, 2019
It outperformed San Francisco, New York City and Los Angeles.
An oil boom in the Permian Basin has attracted a lot of workers. Above, an oil drill is viewed near a construction site for homes and office buildings in 2015 in Midland, Texas.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Questions about shale production arise as U.S. oil production falls

Oct 1, 2019
Analysts have raised questions about the limits of shale oil wells in the United States.
A high-pressure gas line crosses over a canal in an oil field over the Monterey Shale formation where fracking is used to extract oil and gas in Lost Hills, California, in 2014.
David McNew/Getty Images

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Central Texas sand mines shift west, taking jobs with them

May 13, 2019
The market for McCulloch County sand has been drying up.
BRADY, TX. January 28, 2019. The Momentive Sand Plant outside of Brady.
Gabriel C. Pérez/KUT

What the Chevron-Anadarko deal means for Permian shale

Apr 12, 2019
Will there be other deals like it?
Chevron recently launched a "news" website in the Permian Basin in Texas, complete with local stories about puppies followed by advertisements for the oil giant.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Private philanthropy in Midland tries to make up for government shortfalls

May 17, 2018
Midland, which has only one homeless shelter with 20 beds but 264 homeless people, is resistant to government aid for its needy residents.
A billboard promotes the oil industry along a road in Midland on February 6, 2015 in Midland, Texas. 
Spencer Platt/Getty Images